California
Home Purchase Loans in California
Pre-approval a listing agent will trust. I am licensed in California and I shop this across 175+ lenders.
Everything about a purchase gets easier when the financing is settled before you write an offer. A pre-approval that a listing agent trusts is worth more than a slightly better rate.
The market you are buying in
Median ZIP value across California is $694,777. The cheaper tenth of ZIPs sit near $311,277; the top tenth near $1,568,954. Values are close to flat over the year.
Largest metros: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim ($946,324) · San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley ($1,218,621) · Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario ($525,444) · Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom ($556,682)
The loan limit question
The 2026 one-unit conforming baseline is $832,750. High-cost counties go above it, up to $1,249,125. Plenty of California sits in high-cost territory, so a loan that would be jumbo almost anywhere else is conforming here. That single fact changes your rate and your down payment.
What you actually need down
Not 20%. Conventional goes to 3%, FHA to 3.5%, VA and USDA to nothing, and down payment assistance programs can cover the rest. Under 20% means mortgage insurance on conventional and FHA — real money, but usually cheaper than waiting three years to save while prices move.
Before you shop
Get the pre-approval. Know the payment, not just the price. And ask what the rate would be with a temporary buydown paid by the seller, because in a slower market sellers are paying for them.
Where this sits in California
Median ZIP value across California is $694,777 across 1543 ZIP codes. The cheaper tenth of ZIPs run near $311,277 and the top tenth near $1,568,954. That spread matters: the same program behaves very differently at $311,277 than it does at $1,568,954.
| Largest metro | Median value | ZIP codes |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | $946,324 | 360 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley | $1,218,621 | 166 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario | $525,444 | 147 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom | $556,682 | 116 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | $901,942 | 95 |
Zillow public home value index, as of 2026-08-31. Market data, not an appraisal of your property and not a quote.
More detail on the program itself is on my home purchase loans page, and the rest of what I write in the state is on the California mortgage broker page.
Get a free rate quote.
No application. No credit pull. A written comparison across 175+ lenders, with the APR on each.
Let's look at your numbers
Questions people ask
Do you write home purchase loans in California?
Yes. I am licensed in California under NMLS #487617 and I shop this program across 175+ lenders rather than offering one lender's version of it.
What is the median home value in California?
About $694,777 across 1543 ZIP codes, from Zillow's public home value index as of 2026-08-31. Your own ZIP may be well above or below that.
How do I start?
Send me your numbers or book fifteen minutes. No credit is pulled to start and there is no application to get a comparison.
Do I need to live in California to use this?
No. The property has to be in a state I am licensed in. Where you live does not matter, and a good share of my California files are for people who live somewhere else.
How many lenders do you actually compare?
175+. A bank can only offer its own product, so if you do not fit it you hear no. I put the ones that fit side by side with the APR on each, and if your current deal already wins I will tell you.
What does it cost to talk to you?
Nothing. I am paid when a loan closes and the compensation is disclosed on your Loan Estimate. If the answer is to keep what you have, it cost you fifteen minutes.
Let’s look at your numbers
Fifteen minutes. Your real numbers. No pressure.
Call or text my cell, or book a time. You’ll get a written comparison with real terms and an APR on every option, and if your current deal already wins, I’ll tell you.